A DAY IN MY DAD'S SHOES.!

Last day i was at my dad's place..on holiday. I was so excited to meet all my relatives and kick-start fun time with them. But things dint come out as i had expected as my cousins had been to their in-laws's place. Still i tried  keeping myself merry somehow. I started lazing around our "tharavadu" (mallu term for ancestral house) clicking pics as i wandered about. The very sight of the rubber and tapioca plantations amused me. I wondered how my uncle,being at home maybe once or twice a year managed to bring it all up.! He has an assiduous farmer in him ;)

The next few hours i spent on hogging aunt's special food,reading few pieces of papers that lay on the couch and snoozing. I woke up and it was supper-time.! Already.! I filled my little tummy and then we had our family prayer. I like the feeling when all your dear ones come together and you take time to sing aloud and pray and share your wonderful experiences with each other :)

It was all over.

 Its bed time.!yay.! Slowly i dragged myself to the huge bed and lay there for sometime. "Day was good, wish i could spend some time with my cousins", i thought. It was 11.30 already. Time flew really fast..!! I could hear my parents and grandmother having a repartee with my aunt and uncle. My dad's voice was the loudest. I heard him talk about his childhood friends and his mischief. I smiled placidly.  A little while i listened to their conversation and the next thing i saw was the morning sun dawning on me. "I'm leaving today" i mumbled to myself. But i dint want to. 

Now you might start wondering how the title i gave this post is related to what I've typed so far. Well, the happening is yet to come :) We started packing for our return journey. Mom ran around the house like a human tornado, getting things done, packing and yelling at my laziness. I giggled and so did my dad. Ammachi dint wanna say goodbye cos that's the bonding she has to the place and people there. But she had no other option, but to leave. As dad got out of the house and took a final stroll around the house, i sensed some uneasiness in him. But i couldn't figure out what it was from his face. He must be hiding it. My pea-brain couldn't perceive the cause to be frank :D Anyway,all that aside, we exchanged goodbye hugs and kisses and finally got into our car, all set to go. And then the car darted, out of the vicinity of my 'tharavadu'. As we drove past small shops,big houses,old people and coconut,cashew and banana groves suddenly a man,dressed up shabbily,his mouth reeking of tobacco stopped us yelling out "long". I was dumbfounded. "What in the world?!", i exclaimed. My dad has a very bad temper, if i dint mention earlier. But now,i saw him all cool,and relaxed. I was totally confused at this juncture.! A man stopping us abruptly and dad remaining silent at this atrocious act.! The next moment i saw my dad get out of the car,run to the man who was then standing in the middle of the road, and embrace him. It dint take me much time to realize that 'long' was my dad's nickname and the man on the road,who my dad is hugging right now is his childhood friend "vaava". But the change in his outlook,my dad couldn't believe his eyes. He was one of the most educated persons in that place but,lo.! look at him now.!

                                           "Time passed. People changed. Those who once lived in huts now live in mansions. Those who once ran to see airplanes in the sky are now settled and earning big bucks abroad. But time was rude and cruel to me. I was educated,but the current systems denied any job or a secure life to me. And here i am now. Working hard to earn two square meals a day",those words came out garbled from his mouth. How much can a man change?! My dad dint say anything much. But i could see the same uneasiness which i saw half an hour back, rush back to his face once again. I could figure out the reason now. He just exchanged some trivia with his long-lost friend,inquired of his well-being and got back in the car.
On our way back,dad dint talk much. At the sight of certain places and people, he saw his childhood that had ruthlessly left him, and the hard reality that those times wont return to him must have made the pain of leaving even more profound... I could see my dad's eyes through the rear-mirror. They were speaking louder than the millions of thoughts that crossed his mind....Right then,the memories he once cherished seemed like a furrow that could never heal..
                                        I took my eyes off the mirror.....